Corrugated drop door for railway cars



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Patented Aue. 21, 19.28.

`UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.ARTHUR E. SMALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNION METAL PRODUCTSCOMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLE-51915, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

COREJG-ATED DROP DOOR FOR RAIL`WAY CARS.

Application filed December 23, 1926. Serial 156,705.

The invention relates to a railway dump car having a door7 forming apart of the car for retaining the load therein which door is providedwith hinges adjacent one of its edges and is capable ot' beingi droppedor swung open so that the load in discharging slides or passes over theupper surface ot the door. Any means of raising the door to the closedposition and any means t'or locking and releasing'the door may beemployed with my device.

A door tor this purpose must be very strong and durable because:

First, it is a part of the licor of the car and as such must sustain theload as well as the impact blow of the load when the car is in inotion.vSecond, the car is frequently loaded from chutes or tipples from aheight of ten feet or more, causing the load to be dropped directly uponthe` doors. Third, clam shell buckets are frequently used to unload suchcars and it is notuncommon for these buckets to rest upon and drag overthe doors. Fourth, when the door suddenly comes to rest after being`dropped, it is not only subjected to a severe shock but it must sustainthe severe impact thrust of the load which of course 'jollows the door.Fifth, as the load is theoretically equally distributed, the door mustbe strong over its entire area and must be capable of transmitting theresulting stresses to the car body without much deflection and nosuhstantial distortion. Any bending` of the door or drooping ot thecorners would cause a leak olf the lading, especially of such tinematerial as sand, chats, etc. Any bending or warping might interferewith the complete closing and locking or" the door.

As it costs as much to haul a ton of car as it does to haul a ton ofpaying freight, it is imperative that the car and any part thereof be`as light as possible. Furthermore, the 'total weight ot the car andfreight is determined byY the strength of certain standard axles, sothat the lighter' the ear the greater amount orn freight a given carwill ie allowed to carry.

Anobject is to form a metallic door with integral minor corrugations orribs which impart-dto it a certain amount of strength and rigidity toresist loads imposed thereon and toualso` term minor integral ribs orcorrugations therein between the maj or corrugations which merge intothe ends thereot to provide a certain amount of resiliency to enable thed oor to deflect and return to its normal position without appreciableamount of permanent distortion.

Another object is to obtain the desired strength, rigidity andresiliency by a particular and peculiar relative position and relationof the two types of corrugations.

Another object is to form and arrange a plurality ot corrugations in ametallic door so as to obtain a desired proportion between strength,rigidity and resiliency.

Another object is to obtain this result with the least amount of rawmaterial and to provide a finished article of the least possible weightconsistent with strength requirements.

Another object is to provide such a corrugated metallic door which canbe formed by pressing it (when heated, if necessary) between dies whichmove toward each other in one direction only.

The advantages oit my door are applicable to any door ot a freight car,such as drop bottom general service cars (used in the drawings) hoppercars, swing` side door or hopper bottom coal cars, etc.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a railway car with my device applied thereonFigs. 2 and 3 are sections on lines 2 2 and 3-3, respectivelyv of Fig.1.

Figs. 4 and 5 are section on lines -1-#1 and 5 5, respectively ot Fig. 1with the car parts omitted.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are sections similar to Figs. 3, l and 5 but show themajor corrugations with an arcuate conliguration.

To illust-rate one adaptation of my device. I have shown a so-calledgeneral service drop bottom gondola car wherein the major portion of theiloor consists ot drop doors. T he door openings are surrounded by thecenter construction 1, side wall 2 and cross diahragms 3. In normal orclosed position the door completely closes this opening and in fact is atrifle larger on all sides than the opening so as to provide a lap jointbetween the door and the car frame members. The doors are hinged to thecenter construction and are supported adiacent the side wall by theraising or locking mechanism. Any convenient stop may be used to limitthe downward movement ot the door.

1 to 5 inclusive show the preferred form wherein the plate is providedwith a llt) plurality of major corrugations 31 with flat apices 32 whichare spaced apart distances substantially equalV to their respectivewidths and the portions 33 of the plate between the major corrugationsare also flat so that the configuration is symmetrical in cross sectionabout a line midway between the outermost portions of these majorcorrugations, which line is the neutral axis of the section. Such asection is very strong on account of the amount of metal positioned awayfrom the neutral axis and is also relatively rigid. These majorcorrugations 3l are preferably widestand deepest adjacent their middleporti-on and decrease in width toward their opposite ends and the apiceschange from a flat to an arcuate configuration. T he metallic plate isalso provided with a plurality of aligned minor corrugations 3e whichlie between adjacent major corrugations 3i with their inner endspreferably terminatingv into the plate adjacent cach other and withtheir outer ends termmatinginto the plate inv line with the outer endsof the major corrugations.V

rlfhe outer ends of the minor corrugations 3l have arcuate apices andthe portions of the plate between these outer ends of thJ minorcorrugatious and the outer ends of the major corrugations are alsoarcuate so that they form a cross section of sinuous configuration, and,furthermore, the outer ends (at 36) of the minor and major corrugationsare of the same width and spaced apart distances equal to theirrespective widths so that they form a contiguous sinuous configurationsymmetrical in cross section about a line midway between the outermostporti-ons of the corrugations, which line is the neutral axis of thesection. Such a section is very resilient and has a spring' like actionunder load, and, furthermore, produces a very strong section for theamount of steel used. The minor and major corrugations merge into theplane of the plate by means 'of terminal portions 3'? of any desiredformation, By such an arrangement a corrugated metallic plate isprovided which relatively rigid adjacent the middle of the plate andrelatively resilient the opposite end portions `of the corrugations.

I have vdesigned my invention for use in steel plate-s so that when thesection modulus of any section (normal to the c-orrugations) ismultiplied by a constant libre stress the resultequals the bendingmoment of that section for either a. load concentrated at the `middle ofthe corrugated part of the plate or for a load equally distributed overthe corrugated part of the plate, thus showing thi" Lanci L I have notsacrificed any required strength at the yends of the beams to 'obtainresiliency; :n other words, by my construction l obtain a very strong'plate which is also resilient.

As the major c'orrugations increase in depth and width toward theirmiddle portion, the minor corrugation's decrease in depth and widthproportionately so that the lengths of the center lines of the metal ofall cross sections of the corrugated portion of the plate are equal.

The major and minor corrugations may be positioned and dimensioned sothat the length of the center lines of the metal of a cross section ofthe major c-orrugations adjacent their middle (see Fig. 3) is the sameas the length of the center line of the metal of a cross section of themajor and Yminor corrugations adjacent their end portions. (See Fig.45.) Furthermore the corrugated plate may be so formed that the lengthof the center line of the 'metal of any cross section (for instance, aspeiFig. fl) is equal to the length ofthe center line of the metal of anycross Section. that is, between the terminal portions. This is amaterial manufacturing advantage as it more evenly distributes the drawand stretch of the metal due to pressing the corrugations in the plate;

Figs. 3, fland 5 show the major corruga'tions 22 with flat apices andthe portions of the plate etween the major corrugations also being flat,Figs. (i, 7 and 8 are similar to Fins. 3, i and 5, respectively and showthe major corrugatons with arcuate apices 27 and the portions of theplate (28) between the major corrugations also being` arcuate.

l't is understood that the einbossments or corrugations may extendnormally like to those illustrated in the drawings or even diagonally,and still come within the scope of the invention and, furthermore, whilel have described and claimed a single plate, it is understood that theymay be made of a plurality of united plates and still come within thescope of the invention.

The marginal portion or portions may be provided with flanges 9 so as tofurther stil-fen the sides of the door against deflection under load andto -stiffen the entire door against buckling or distortion. il

rllhe accompanying' drawings illustrate the preferred form ofthepinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention islimited to the exact Adetails of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that various modifications thereofl within the scope of theclaims will occur to persons skilled in the art.

l 'claim l. In railway car having a door opening'I a door hingedadjacent one edge thereof and supported at. the opposite edge thereof,said door comprising` a metallic plate provided with plurality of majorcorrugations which decrease in width toward their ends, each plate alsoprovided with a plurality of minor corrugations lying; between saidmajor corrugations which increase in width toward the edges of the plateuntil the major and minor corrugations terminate into the plate adjacentthe opposite marginal portions of the door and in line with each other.

2. In a railway car having a door opening, a door hinged adjacent oneedge thereof and supported at the opposite edge thereof, said doorcomprising a metallic plate provided with a plurality of majorcorrugations which decrease in width and depth toward their ends, eachplate also provided with a plurality of minor corrugations lying betweensaid major corrugations which increase in width and depth toward theedges of the plate until the major and minor corrugations terminate intothe plate adjacent the opposite marginal portions of the door and inline with each other.

3. In a railway car having a door opening, a door hinged adjacent oneedge tliereo-f and supported at the opposite edge thereof, said doorcomprising a metallic plate provided with a plurality of majorcorrugations spaced apartdistances substantially equal to their widthwhich decrease in width toward their ends7 each plate also provided witha plurality of minor corrugations lying between said major corrugationswhich increase in width toward the edges of the plate until the majorand minor corrugations are spaced apart distan es equal to their widthadjacent the opposite marginal portions of t-lie door and in line witheach other.

4. In a railway car having a door opening, a door hinged adjacent oneedge thereof and supported at the opposite. edge thereof, said doorcomprising a metallic plate provided with a plurality of majorcorrugations spaced apart distances substantially equal to their widthwhich decrease in width and depth toward their ends, each plate alsoprovided with a plurality of minor corrugations lying between said majorcorrugations which increase in width and depth toward the edges of theplate until the major and minor corrugations are spaced apart distancesequal to their width adjacent the opposite marginal portions of thedoor.

5. In a railway car having a door opening. a door hinged adjacent oneedge thereof and supported at the opposite edge thereof, said doorcomprising a metallic plate provided with a plurality of majorcorrugations symmetrical in cross section about a line midway betweenthe outermost portion-s of the corrugations which decrease inlwidth`toward their ends, each plate also provided with a plurality of minorcorrugations lying between said major corrugations which increase inwidth toward the edges of the plate until the major and minorcorrugations forni a cross section symmetrical about aline midwaybetween the outermost portions of the corrugations adjacent the oppositemarginal portion-s of the door. l

6. In a railway car having a door opening,

a door hinged adjacent one edge thereof and supported at the opposite.edge thereof, said door comprising a metallic plate provided with aplurality of major corrugations symmetrical in cross section about alinemidway between the outermost portions of the corrugations which decreasein width and depth toward their ends, each plate also provided with aplurality of minor corrugations lying between said major corrugationswhich increase in width and depth toward the edges of the plate untilthe major and minor corrugations form a cross section symmetrical abouta line midway between the outermost portions of the corrugationsadjacent the opposite marginal portions of the door.

7. In a railway car having a door opening, a door hinged adjacent oneedge thereof and supported at the opposite edge thereof, said doorcomprising a metallic plate provided with a plurality of majorcorrugations which decrease in depth toward their ends, each plate alsoprovided with a plurality of minor corrugations lying between said majorcorrugations which increase in depth toward the edges of the plateadjacent the opposite marginal port-ions of the door, the length of thecenter line of the metal of a cross section of the major corrugationsadjacent the. middle of the plate being the same as the length of thecenter line of the metal of a cross section of the major and minorcoriugations adjacent the edge of the plate.

8. In a railway car having a door opening, a door hinged adjacent oneedge thereof and supported at the opposite edge thereof, said doorcomprising a metallic plate provided with a plurality of majorcorrugations which decrease in depth and width toward their ends, eachplate also provided with a plurality of minor corrugations lying betweensaid major corrugations which increase in depth and width toward theedges of the plate adjacent the opposite marginal portions of the door,the length of the center line of the metal of a cross section of themajor corrugations adjacent the middle of the plate being the saine asthe length of the center line of the metal of a cross section of themajor ant. minor corrugations adjacent the edge of the plate.

9. In a railway car having a door opening, a door hinged adjacent oneedge thereof and supported at the opposite edge thereof, said doorcomprising a metallic plate provided with a plurality of truncated majorcorrugations which decrease in width toward their ends. each plate alsoprovided with a plurality of minor corrugations lying' between saidmajor corrugations which increase in width toward the edges of the plateuntil the major and ininor corrugations are contiguous and form asinuoiis configuration adjacent the opposite marginal portions of thedoor.

l0. In a railway car having al door opening,

llt)

a door hinged adjacent one edge thereoil and supported at the oppositeedge thereof, said. door comprising a metallic plate Drovded with aplurality of truncated major corrugations which decrease in Width anddepth toward their ends, each pla-te also provided with e pluralityof-minorcorrugations lying between said major corrugations which ncreasein Width and depth toward the edges of the plate until the major andminor corrugations are contiguous and forni a -sinuous configurationadjacent the opposite marginal portions of the door.

ARTHUR E. SMALL.

